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Dairy Farm Interview Preparation Guide

Dairy Farm Frequently Asked Questions by expert members with experience in Dairy Farming. These questions and answers will help you strengthen your technical skills, prepare for the new job test and quickly revise the concepts

96 Dairy Farming Questions and Answers:

Companies like Dairy Farm, Manager usually provide a clear career path for entry-level or junior-level employees. It all comes down to performance and track record since your first day at Dairy Farm, Manager. In Dairy Farm, Manager, management level or executive level employees have different and better career choice and career path than junior-level ones.

Virtually all commercial dairy farms take the baby calves away from their mothers within a few days of giving birth. Separating a mother and her baby is an extremely traumatizing experience for the mother and her newborn. The reason farmers take the baby away is so they can steal the mother's milk that was intended for her child.

Many times a mother cow will call out for days trying to find her stolen calf. The sound of a grief stricken mother cow for her calf is heart breaking. Perhaps ask the farmer about that?
If the farmer claims that they don't separate the mother and calf, I'd be skeptical. Ask how it is financially feasible to run a dairy farm that way?

Cows have evolved over millions of years to eat almost nothing but grass. Farmers feed cows grains in order for them to gain weight or so they produce more and/or sweeter milk. Grains are hard for cows to digest and lead to chronic digestive problems.

Another reason a farmer might feed their cows grains is because the cows are confined and have no access to fields or grass. Have you ever driven past feed lots with cows crammed together, standing in their own waste, with no grass in sight? Well that could easily be an organic dairy farm.

Most dairy farmers will slaughter cows after four years, or when their milk production begins to drop. Farmers want the most profitable animals possible and therefore don't wish to keep around cows that produce less milk. Dairy cows are usually sold to slaughterhouses and are ground up into hamburger meat at four years old, even though many can easily live longer than 20 years. If a farmer claims they keep all their older cows and/or bulls, they must have a tremendous amount of money and land, since keeping nonproductive animals is extremely costly, as any farm sanctuary can confirm.

Ultimately what it comes down to is the fact that cows don't produce milk for humans to drink; they make milk for their babies, just as every other mammal does. Dairy farming is inherently an abusive industry because it imprisons animals and forcibly takes what does not belong to us.
Drinking cows' milk is also a rather perverse act when thought about. Drinking the lactation of another species is strange enough. But to drink the milk of a 1,000 lb, non-primate animal, completely covered in hair and who eats grass, is even stranger. Any claim that drinking cows' milk is "natural" should be met with great suspicion.

I actually left the farm for awhile and headed to town where I earned my college degree in journalism. I worked as a newspaper reporter for about 10 years before returning to my farming roots! I suppose I would still be working in journalism had I not come back to the farm.

Because male animals don't produce milk, they are virtually worthless to dairy farmers. Only one bull is needed at a time in most dairy farms, but since almost half of all calves born will be male, what happens to them? Most dairy farms sell male calves to crated veal farms where the calf will be chained or tied up, placed usually in a dark wooden crate or another tight spot to restrict movement, and fed an iron-deficient liquid diet so that when he is slaughtered several months later, his meat is pale in color.

If they aren't sold to a crated veal operation, they more than likely will be sold or raised as Rose-veal. Rose-veal only differs from crated veal in that the calves aren't restricted as much (although they usually remain tethered) and have access to sunlight.

A cow that is milking eats about 100 pounds each day of feed, which is a combination of hay, grain, silage and proteins (such as soybean meal), plus vitamins and minerals. Farmers employ professional animal nutritionists to develop scientifically formulated, balanced and nutritious diets for their cows. Cows also need fresh, clean water.

USDA statistics show that US dairy farmers are producing almost three times more milk with about half the number of cows compared to 1960, thereby reducing the total amount of feed, water and space needed, and resulting in less manure. Learn more